The Neko's Dream
by Lachenna
Summary: Sequel to "A Second Neko" and "Of Cats and Witches". The Earl may be dead, but the war is far from over. We rejoin Allen, Kanda, and their daughter for some drama around the Order. Mpreg. AllenxKanda
1. Prologue

A/N: Here we go! It's the prologue to the third section of the neko story! It's a little short, but it's a prologue. ;) I plan to post new chapters of this story once a month, on the third Thursday of the month. Anyway, as you've all probably guessed, it's been about a year since the epilogue of "A Second Neko"...

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~Prologue~

Just like the last few mornings, I was woken by the feeling of nausea building inside me, and I had to hurriedly stumble to the bathroom before I lost what was left of my dinner somewhere where I'd have to clean it up.

It was the fifth morning in a row of vomiting like that, and that could only mean one thing. Two or three days was easily explainable as the flu or a stomach bug, but five days meant that there were far fewer other explanations for the vomiting. Which meant that it had worked. I was pregnant.

I was thrilled by that discovery; after all, we had been intentionally trying to get me pregnant. However, now that it had happened, I couldn't help but wonder if this was a good idea. Experiencing morning sickness again was far from pleasant, and it made me feel like I might have been romanticizing my previous pregnancy. It had been nearly five years since then - it was entirely possible that I had only been remembering the good bits when we decided to do this.

But as I threw up again, I knew that that wasn't true. Yes, my first pregnancy had been bad at the time, but it wasn't me romanticizing my memories that made it seem pleasant in the present day. I may have had a hard time with it, but my first pregnancy was a walk in the park compared to Miranda's. And second pregnancies were supposed to be easier than first pregnancies. So even if this pregnancy did end up as difficult as my first, it was nothing I couldn't handle.

"Mommy?"

The softly spoken word pulled me out of my thoughts, and I turned to see Erika standing hesitantly in the doorway. She had just woken up, if her bedhead and pinned back ears were any indication, and she had come looking for me when she couldn't find me in my usual spot. She looked absolutely adorable like that, her oversized sleep shirt slipping off her thin shoulders and her tail still drooping with sleep and trailing almost lifelessly behind her. She was my beautiful little baby, and I wanted to hold her tight and never let go.

I smiled at her, but before I could truly acknowledge her presence, the nausea overwhelmed me and I had to turn back to the toilet. There was no time to be concerned with the ramifications of throwing up in front of my baby.

Erika almost screamed when she saw me vomit. Her voice was shrill and full of panic as she ran to my side. "Mommy? Mommy?! What's wrong?"

I gave her the most reassuring smile I could muster as I ruffled the soft fur of her ear. "I'm just a little sick, sweetheart. I'll feel better in a little bit, and then we'll get you some breakfast, ok?"

While I felt bad about lying to her and not telling her what was really wrong, this was not the appropriate time to be telling her that I was pregnant. She was too freaked out to understand, and I was in no condition to be having a long, drawn out discussion right now. Besides, Yuu would be pissed if I told her while he wasn't around, and that alone was more than enough reason for me to keep my mouth shut.

Erika accepted my lie though, which was especially good given that she had recently figured out that she could tell when people were lying, and she had a tendency to get very upset when she knew that I was lying to her. She knelt down beside me, rubbing circles on my back with her tiny, little hands. The gesture was very sweet, and it was made even sweeter by the knowledge that it was her father's comforting technique that she was mimicking.

And as I vomited yet again, her gentle touch reminded me of why I had intentionally gotten myself pregnant. This wasn't about putting my body through pregnancy again, it was about the end result: another child. I was doing this because I wanted another baby. I had only recently conceived it, and I already desperately loved the baby inside me.

But that thought did little to make me feel better, not when Erika was being so sweet and trying so hard to comfort me. It wasn't fair to her that I already loved this new baby. It wasn't fair that I could love this one within moments of learning that it was inside me, while it had taken months and drastic measures from my friends to get me to care about Eri. Logically, I knew that it wasn't that I didn't love Erika, it was that my pregnancy was so completely unexpected that I just couldn't process that I was having a baby, but thinking logically about it wasn't making me feel any less guilty.

But the guilt was only temporary. As the morning sickness waned and I got myself cleaned up, I began to feel a whole lot better. And as I brushed the tangles out of Eri's long navy hair, I was once again happy and joyful. I loved my little kitten and I loved her younger sibling, and that was all that mattered.


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: I'm not particularly happy with this chapter - it got a whole lot longer than I meant for it to be, so I didn't get to all the things I wanted to get to. But I got sick, and I barely finished it in time to post it tonight, so at this point, I'm just glad it's done. Besides, it's got a lot about Eri in it, so I don't think you all mind. ;)

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Aside from my promotion to general, not much had happened with the war since I had killed the Earl. In some ways, it felt like time had barely passed at all. We were almost at peace.

It was on a more personal level that things had changed. Just not for me and my family. Kanda and I were still very happily married, and our four year old daughter was every bit as beautiful and energetic as she was when she was a toddler. It was everyone else whose lives were different.

My parents got married, which is old news by this point, but it's still uncomfortable for me to think about. They're both around headquarters a lot more often than they used to be, which isn't surprising since they adore their granddaughter. Natasha still occasionally complains about the curse that caused me to become a neko, but she's finally letting go of her guilt; Erika is just too adorable for her to feel anything but love towards the little neko. While I'm sometimes still a little jealous of the way Cross treats Eri, he's actually been treating me a whole lot better lately, and I think I might finally be starting to accept that he's my father.

Teidoll and Klaud both laughed hysterically through Cross' wedding, and ever since then, they've been a lot friendlier to each other. They've even been going on missions together in order to see each other more often. But while it may look like friendship from the outside, it's definitely more than that. Teasing Yuu about Klaud becoming his stepmother gets too violent a reaction out of him for the relationship to be strictly platonic. Those of us in the know are expecting them to announce their engagement any day now.

Bookman died of old age, allowing Lavi to succeed him and take over the job of recording history. Lavi still spends some time around the Order, but he's gone much more frequently than he was before the Earl's death; the war is not as high of a priority for him as it used to be, and I can't really blame him for that when he's got so many other things to do. A couple years back, he picked up his first apprentice, and though Lavi claims that he only keeps his status as an exorcist so that Thatcher can study in the Order's library, we all know that he stays because he likes us.

Lenalee and Camilla dated briefly. It was really weird when they came out as a couple, as I knew from previous dealings with them that they were both very straight, but I figured that as long as they were happy together, it didn't matter; I certainly wasn't in a position to tell them they couldn't be gay. But they were only together for a few days before I noticed that they were lying about their relationship, and once I called them on it, I was let in on the truth. The whole thing was a ploy to get Komui to let up on Lenalee. They figured that he'd hate seeing her in homosexual relationship so much that he'd change his mind and let her date men; my marriage may have been officially sanctioned, but the Order was still very much against homosexuality. Their plan worked a little too well. The first time they kissed in front of him, Komui had a heart attack and spent a month in the infirmary almost completely catatonic. When he recovered, he immediately overreacted, and the girls had to fake a public yet amicable break up to stop him from transferring Camilla to a different branch. Lenalee got what she wanted out of it though, and while she had yet to actually go on a date, we were all relieved that Lenalee bringing a man around wasn't going to bring about the apocalypse.

Life was great and comfortable, until about three months ago. When Miranda and Marie announced that they were expecting their first child.

.x.x.

My days were fairly routine. I'd get Erika ready in the morning, we'd have breakfast, and then she'd go study with Emilia for an hour or two while I did some training. After that, we'd travel to some random town somewhere, and I'd try to teach her how to be an exorcist; it was something that was still more than a little over her head, but with my cursed eye, I needed to be out fighting akuma on a regular basis. Then we'd head home for dinner, she'd do some self-defense training with her father, and after a bedtime story, we'd go to bed and start the whole thing all over again the next day.

Erika had been my apprentice for about a year now, and while she still couldn't use her Innocence, she had gained full control of her claws, so I wasn't quite so neurotically worried about her while we were out fighting. Eri was a curious little kitten, always wandering off whenever something caught her attention - which, thankfully, wasn't very often, as she was also incredibly shy - and if I let her, she'd spend all day exploring the town inside the ark. But even though I knew that she was perfectly capable of handling herself, despite her young age, I was not about to let her out of my sight. Especially inside the ark.

So when she started wandering off in the wrong direction when we were on our way home, I was quick to follow after her. And not just because I was worried about her safety. That four year old neko had a much better sense of direction than I did, and for all I knew, _I_ was the one who had been headed the wrong way. But that was not the case today. Erika was definitely leading us away from the door to headquarters. Of course, when we came across other people, and she took off towards them yelling, "Manda!" I knew exactly why she had changed our direction; having been born a neko, Eri was more in tune with her inner cat than I was, and she had noticed the others much sooner than I had.

Miranda was one of Erika's favorite people, and the feeling was definitely mutual. While I greeted Marie, Miranda scooped Erika up and held the kitten close to her, both of them laughing happily as she spun them around. "Hi, Eri. It's so good to see you!"

It surprised me when Eri suddenly started frowning. But before I could ask her what was wrong, she crinkled up her face and blurted out, "You've gotten fat, Auntie Manda, and your heart sounds really funny."

I sighed heavily at Eri's comment and took her from Miranda. She was usually a well-behaved child, but every once in a while, she said rude things like that just to remind me that she really was her father's daughter. "That's not a nice thing to say, Eri."

But while I chided her choice of words, I couldn't help focusing on Miranda's heartbeat, wondering what it was that Erika had found weird. The slight echo was not what I was expecting to hear, but I knew exactly what it was. "She's not fat, she's pregnant. She's going to have a baby."

I smiled brightly at Miranda, who was frowning uncomfortably; she clearly didn't like that Eri had called her fat, but she also wasn't happy that the little neko had gotten in trouble for it. "Congratulations."

The sentiment was genuine. Mostly. I really was happy for Miranda; she was going to be a great mother. But at the same time, there was something else there. Something not so nice. It felt a little like jealousy, but I had no clue why I would feel like that about Miranda being pregnant. The only potential reason for jealousy that I could think of was that my baby wasn't going to be the only baby at headquarters anymore, but Eri wasn't really a baby, so that didn't make any sense. And it left me quite confused.

Miranda blushed fiercely. "Th-thank you."

I smiled at the way she barely managed to stammer out a response. Marie wrapped his wife in an encouraging hug, but that embarrassed blush on her face never faded. Taking the initiative, I started leading the way towards the door to headquarters so that we weren't just standing around staring awkwardly at each other. "I take it that's why you decided to come home?"

Miranda nodded, and I could tell from the way her heart rate slowed slightly that she was thankful that I wasn't asking questions about her pregnancy. "We were going to continue to accompany General Teidoll, but as of three days ago, I can no longer activate my Innocence, so we decided that it was time to come back to headquarters."

Eri squirmed in my arms, so I put her down and let her run around on her own two feet; I had no clue how she still had so much energy after walking around all day. "That sucks. But it'll be good to have you around more. Are you staying too, Marie?"

He shook his head. "Just for a few days, until she gets settled in. Then I'll have to go back to General Teidoll."

The bitterness in his voice almost made me laugh. It was the exact same tone Yuu had used when talking about missions back when I was pregnant. I was about to say as much when Eri suddenly ran off screaming for the second time that evening. "Daddy!"

Speak of the devil. Yuu grunted when he was tackled by the little neko, pretending that she had actually knocked him off balance. Erika laughed as they fell to the ground, a sound that was so adorably precious that even Kanda would do anything to hear it. Like always, the glimpse at his soft side was briefer than I would have liked. While she giggled, he scowled fiercely at her, barely remembering to keep his promise to not swear in front of her. "Get the- ... Get off me, Sprout."

When she didn't move, he pulled her scarf from her head and attacked her cat ears, tickling that sensitive spot where they met her head. She immediately squealed and tried to struggle out of his hold. Erika didn't hate that nearly as much as I did - probably because she'd actually been born with her cat ears - but she was very particular about her hair, so she was quite upset that he had messed it up. "Don't do that, Daddy!"

He simply tickled her more in response. But the moment came to an abrupt end when Miranda giggled and Yuu finally noticed that they weren't alone. He got to his feet in one smooth motion, holding Eri firmly in his arms and scowling to hide his embarrassment over getting caught being soft, even though it was just Marie and Miranda and they frequently saw him like that.

He made his way towards us, clearly intending to hand our daughter over to me, but when she flung her arms towards Miranda, he changed course, letting Eri go to the person she wanted to go to. She giggled happily as she nestled herself against Miranda's body, and then she immediately fell asleep. It always amazed me how she could go from overly energetic to out like a light in the blink of an eye like that; it was both adorable and exhausting.

I expected Miranda to get flustered and try to hand Erika back to me, but instead, she seemed to have finally relaxed. She smiled at me with tears in her eyes as she adjusted her hold on the sleeping neko. "This was just what I needed. Thank you, Allen, Kanda."

I couldn't help blushing, despite not knowing what she was thankful for. Even Yuu looked embarrassed, if the way he was suddenly frowning at the wall was anything to go by. "What are you talking about? We didn't do anything."

She shook her head and gently stroked Eri's hair. "Knowing that you two were able to raise such a beautiful little angel while living in this place gives me the courage I need to face my own pregnancy. This baby might not turn out half as perfect as Erika, but it will turn out ok. I'm not going to horribly screw it up."

The compliment was embarrassing, but what was more frustrating was the self-disparaging way Miranda spoke about herself; I thought she'd gotten over most of that when she'd gotten married, but apparently, her pregnancy had brought it back. "You are going to be a fantastic mother, Miranda. And you're not alone. You've got your husband, even if his job takes him away from you too much, and you have everyone else here to support you too. I've been where you are; they may be overbearing, but they're a great help. And you can always come to me if you need anything."

I meant the offer wholeheartedly - I wanted to help Miranda as much as I could - but I would come to regret it. That little flash of jealousy I'd felt earlier wasn't a one time thing, and with Miranda coming to me for advice almost daily, that feeling would continue to resurface and grow stronger until I was living in a near constant state of jealousy towards her. Unfortunately, it would be a few months before I figured out _why _I was feeling that way, and in the meantime, I could only pretend that I didn't have a problem.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: It's finally done! It's a little longer than I intended, but I wasn't going to cut it off in the middle of a lemon. ;) I hope you guys enjoy it!

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In retrospect, the amount of time it took for me to figure out why I was jealous of Miranda was quite embarrassing. It seems so obvious now that my jealousy was because I wanted to have another baby, but at the time, it wasn't quite so clear. Instead of figuring it out right away, it took me nearly eight weeks of seeing Miranda every day for me to realize that I wanted to get pregnant again.

And once I'd figured that out, I spent the next several weeks trying to convince myself that I was being ridiculous. Pregnancy had been a miserable experience and I shouldn't want to put my body through that again. I was finally a general and I had a duty to the war and my apprentice; taking myself out of action by getting pregnant was not a responsible thing to do. Yet every single time I chatted with Miranda or helped her with her pregnancy symptoms, I couldn't help wishing that my own womb had a baby growing inside it. And Erika only made my conflicted feelings worse. My little kitten was so adorable and perfect that all seeing her did was further cement the idea of having another child in my head. Even when she was being a stubborn little terror.

Not that it mattered anyway. Yuu wasn't going to want to get me pregnant again, so the whole thing was moot. He was a great father, but Erika was clearly all he wanted, and I was going to respect that. Kanda didn't need to know that I wanted more. He had sacrificed so much for me, giving up his freedom and taking responsibility for my accidental pregnancy, and I wasn't going to be selfish and ask for more.

Little did I know, but I was dead wrong about what my husband wanted. And it would turn out that he thought I was the one who didn't want more children. Fortunately for both of us, he could tell when I was hiding things from him. It normally irked me that he could see through my lies so easily, but in this case, I could make an exception. I just wish it wouldn't have taken him so long to figure out what it was that I was hiding from him.

Or maybe he was just waiting for the right time to broach the subject. Six years together wasn't exactly a milestone, but it was still our anniversary, and while Kanda may not have had much of a romantic streak, he loved celebrating our anniversary. He probably wanted to get me pregnant that night.

.x.x.

After putting Eri to bed, I went about my own bedtime routine before climbing in bed beside my husband. Having a child had not slowed down our sex life, and we often engaged in those activities before going to sleep, but we didn't want to risk Erika walking in on us, so we usually spent our first hour in bed reading to make sure that she was really asleep before we did anything. Of course, we had other motives for that too. Neither of us were really academically inclined, but Erika was - she had already tested off the charts. And while we didn't want to actively push her in that direction, we also didn't want her to grow up ashamed of how smart she was, so we decided that we'd lead by example. If she saw us reading for fun, she might be more likely to spend her own free time reading.

That night however, Kanda pulled me into his lap before I could grab my book. We just sat there in silence, enjoying the quiet moment together while I waited as patiently as I could for him to tell me what was on his mind. I was expecting something sappy about it being our anniversary, but what he finally asked caught me off guard. "Do you think Eri's ready for a brother or sister?"

I laughed at that, recalling the way Erika had peppered Miranda with questions about her baby at breakfast that morning. I had thought that the two children would be cousins, but if Yuu wanted his brother's kid to be Eri's sibling, I certainly wasn't going to object to that. "Erika is definitely ready for Miranda's baby to get here. She's already excited to have another kid to play with."

Yuu scoffed and nudged my ear with his nose. "That's not what I meant, Moyashi."

I waited for him to finish correcting me, but when his hands drifted under my shirt, I found that I no longer needed him to verbally explain what he was thinking. His hands had come to rest on my belly and his long fingers were absently tracing the stretch marks from my pregnancy. And that action in this context could only mean that he had been asking about having another baby. But even though I now understood what he was after, I was still confused. As far as I knew, he didn't want more children. "Wha-what are you saying?"

"I want to get you pregnant again." The statement was said matter-of-factly, like he was telling me what he wanted for dinner rather than making a decision that would alter our lives forever.

As much as I wanted to hear that, I couldn't resist rolling my eyes at him. "I got that part, Bakanda. Why?"

I was looking for a real answer, but Kanda merely smirked at me; I may not have been able to see it, but I could definitely feel it in his body language. He was teasing me. "Because you were gorgeous with a pregnant belly."

"Pervert."

Yuu just laughed when I elbowed him in the stomach. But then he leaned in closer and kissed that one specific spot on my jawline. It had been six years since I became a neko, so it didn't quite piss me off like it used to, but it still irritated me to have him tease the spots where my human ears used to be. On the other hand, I knew that Kanda loved those spots even more than I hated them, and in times like this, he used them to show me that he wasn't teasing me. "In all seriousness though, I can see how jealous you are of Miranda. You hide it well, but I can see that you want to have another child. So let's do it."

I stiffened at the comment, freezing at the realization that he knew what I'd been trying to hide from him. But I didn't want to focus on that right now, so I tried to blow off the suggestion. "You say that like deciding to do it is all that it takes. We still have no clue how it happened in the first place."

"Then we'll just have to keep trying until it happens." I tried to protest, but before I uttered a single syllable, Yuu's lips were on mine and his tongue was trying to gain entrance into my mouth. By the time he let go, I was gasping for breath from the depth of the kiss. He placed his forehead against mine, and I found myself staring into his beautiful cobalt eyes. "Let me knock you up, Moyashi."

I very nearly let him have me right then and there. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to become pregnant with his baby once more. But I somehow managed to push the lust aside and think logically. Choosing to have another child was a big decision that would change our lives forever if it worked. We couldn't just do it the first time we talked about it. "But what about the war? Our jobs? I have an apprentice to train. I can't just abandon-"

Kanda outright laughed at that. "No, you have _our daughter_ to train. And she's still too young to use her Innocence, so you'll have no problem training her while you're pregnant. You won't be abandoning her. Besides, you've seen how she is around Miranda. If we get you pregnant, Eri's never going to leave your side."

That was a good point, but there was a bigger issue that needed to be dealt with. "You've got an argument for every excuse I might possibly come up with, don't you?"

Yuu scoffed and started scratching my ear. "Of course I do. I've been waiting for five years for you to change your mind about having another child. And now that it's happened, I'm not going to let you talk yourself out of it."

.x.x.

Before Allen could say another word, I captured his mouth in a fierce kiss. I pulled the Moyashi closer, holding him firmly in place so that the neko couldn't escape. Allen stubbornly resisted the kiss at first, but I overpowered him, plundering his mouth and making him squirm with pleasure. Talking clearly wasn't working, so I needed another way to convince him that this was what we both wanted.

By the time I released him, he was gasping for breath and his eyes were glazed over, but the fight hadn't gone out of him yet. Allen glared at me as he tried to regain control of his breathing. "That's not fair, Bakanda! How am I supposed to argue against that?!"

I couldn't help frowning. I usually found the Moyashi adorable when he pouted like that, but right now, it was just annoying. I wanted this conversation to be over so that we could move on to better things. "You're not. That's the point. Stop trying to deny yourself happiness."

I leaned in to initiate another kiss, hoping to further convince him that I really did know what he wanted, but Allen saw it coming and placed a hand over my mouth to stop me. "But-!"

Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I pulled Allen's hand away then went back to stroking the neko's ear. My impatience with the brat made me want to be a bit rougher with him, but I knew that I needed to be gentle if I wanted to get my way. "Look, I wouldn't have brought this up if I thought that it was a bad idea in any way. We're ready for another baby, and now really is a good time to get you pregnant. So we can sit here and discuss it or we can just go ahead and start trying."

"...You're serious..." The way Allen's eyes widened was precious, but it just made me want to roll my eyes at him. He forgot that I loved him at the weirdest times, and it made conversations like this so much harder than they had to be.

I wanted to flick his ear, but I knew that the gesture would be counterproductive now that he finally understood what I'd been saying, so I just continued to stroke the soft fur under my fingers. "I am. This isn't something I decided on a whim. I-"

He smiled brightly as he pulled my hand from his ear. "Ok. Get me pregnant."

I didn't hesitate to pounce on him. I knew I should probably question the Moyashi's sincerity, but I finally had permission to go after what I wanted - and had wanted for years - and I wasn't going to press my luck. Besides, once I captured Allen's lips, the Moyashi immediately started fighting for dominance, which proved that he meant what he had said; if he were only doing this because it was what I wanted, Allen would have turned submissive rather than trying to gain control.

But then again, maybe he wouldn't have. After all, Allen was usually the dominant one when we had sex, and it was entirely possible that he was just acting that way out of habit. While I moved my focus to his neck, attempting to leave a hickey and remind everyone who he belonged to, his fingers immediately set about finding some of my more sensitive spots. Allen knew where they all were and exactly how to touch them to make me do whatever it was he wanted. Normally, I didn't care; even after six years together, I was still so amazed that he wanted to be with me that I was willing to let him do practically anything to my body, but tonight I needed to be in control. So when he pressed his fingers against my body in a way that made my breath hitch, I decided that it was time to say something. "Moyashi. We're trying to get you pregnant. You have to be on the bottom for that to work."

The embarrassment that washed over his face was adorable. He immediately let go of me and rolled over onto his back. In that instant, it became clear that Allen was acting dominant out of habit, but it wasn't because he was being insincere, he had just missed the obvious. "Oh. Right. Oops."

It was also clear that he was waiting for me to make the next move, so I leaned over and kissed his nose, flicking his ear as gently as I could. "You don't have to be completely submissive, you know. You just have to stop trying to take control. Got it?"

He nodded but didn't move, so I flicked his ear again. I should not have to be telling him these things after five years of marriage. "Just take off your clothes, Moyashi."

Allen immediately obliged. He hopped off the bed, stripped, and was back before I got my own shirt off. I raised an eyebrow at him as I slipped off the rest of my clothes. "That was fast, Moyashi."

He just shrugged. "Yeah, well, I want to have another baby, and you're willing to give it to me, so why waste any more time, right?"

I wanted to point out that he was the one who had been delaying things earlier but decided that it was better to just move on.

I captured his lips and grabbed his ass in order to pull him closer to me. His hands, rather predictably, tangled into my hair as he deepened the kiss, and I let my hands trail up to his tail. That spot at the base wasn't nearly as sensitive as it was when Allen first became a neko, but it was still sensitive enough for me to turn him into a puddle of goo with very little effort. It was only a matter of seconds before he was crying out that he was close.

The Moyashi had been embracing his inner cat more over the past few years, and the meowing moans he made during sex no longer embarrassed him, and that just made me love the noises more. I had always liked getting him so riled up that he gave into his animal nature, but it was even more beautiful now that he was no longer resisting it. And the sound he made that night, as he came just from having his tail teased, was especially delicious.

I continued to tease his tail all through his orgasm, and when he started to return to his senses, I flipped him over and positioned myself between his spread knees. The lube was easy to grab from the nightstand - though explaining what it was to our four-year-old had been a very awkward conversation - and I quickly squirted some onto my hand and set about preparing the Moyashi. His hole didn't want to cooperate, and I had to work to stretch him enough to get a finger in. "God, Moyashi. You're so tight."

Allen snorted, clearly unamused by the comment, and I could feel him trying not to squirm in discomfort. I was surprised that he was coherent enough to respond. "You haven't fucked me in three years, Bakanda. Of course my hole has tightened up."

I knew it had been a while since I had last been on top, but that didn't seem right at all. "Really? Three years? How is that possible?"

The Moyashi just snorted again. "You'd rather be on the bottom than wear a condom."

"Right." I let the conversation drop and focused on stretching him. If it really had been three years since we last did this, I needed to make sure that he was thoroughly prepared for what came next.

Allen meowed every time I brushed against his sensitive spot, and I knew he was ready when he stopped fighting against my fingers. I teased him for a bit longer, succeeding at making him whine when I finally pulled my fingers out. I rolled him back over so that I could see his flushed face, distracting him with a kiss as I pushed my length inside him. He tensed up, but it didn't take long for him to relax, which was good because I was having a hard time restraining myself. His tight, hot passage felt so good around my shaft that it was difficult to remember that I needed to wait for him to be ready.

It may have been three years, but I still knew exactly how to move to make him scream with pleasure. And when it was over, we collapsed beside each other, riding out our orgasms in unison. At times like this, we were so in sync that it was hard to believe that we had ever hated each other. Yet somehow, that scrawny, naïve idiot I had nearly decapitated was actually my soulmate. He'd given me a beautiful daughter, and he was hopefully pregnant with my child once more.

Allen snuggled closer, obviously wanting to fall asleep in my arms, as that was something we both loved to do after sex. I stroked his ear absently as he started to doze off. "Do you think it worked?"

He snorted, but it sounded more like a sigh with how exhausted he was. "It's gonna be something like three weeks before we can tell."

"That's not what I asked, Moyashi." But he was already asleep and didn't hear me. I followed after him, hoping that he wouldn't change his mind in the morning and that this wasn't my only chance to try to get him pregnant.


	4. Chapter 3

I may have doubted Kanda's sincerity that first night, but given the way he would ambush me over the next few days, it was pretty obvious that he truly did want to get me pregnant. He would pounce on me any time we were alone, no matter where we were at the time, and he frequently sought me out at times he knew Erika would be studying or training with one of our friends. Fortunately for my sanity, the novelty of trying to knock me up wore off quickly, and he stopped pouncing on me in public places before the week was over. Yuu still attacked me whenever he got the chance, but he always made sure we were someplace private before he did it. Eri had never walked in on us during sex, and I wasn't anxious for that to change, so I was incredibly thankful that he had gone back to being careful around her.

When three weeks passed and I hadn't started showing the signs of being pregnant, the excitement that we both shared died quite a bit. We both wanted another baby, so it was disappointing that it hadn't happened, even though we knew that it wasn't going to happen on the first try. Yuu took it especially hard, and it was only the reminder that we had been together for six months before I conceived Eri that cheered him up. I wasn't that much better off, as the emotional turmoil that came from knowing I hadn't conceived yet was made worse by my jealousy of Miranda, and I wanted a baby even more now than I did when we first started trying.

So when another month passed and I started experiencing morning sickness, I was thrilled. I was a little worried that I was imagining things - I definitely didn't want to tell Yuu that I was pregnant just to have it turn out that it was something else - so I kept it to myself until I was certain. I would have felt bad about hiding things from my husband, but he was away on a longer mission, which meant that he wasn't around for me to lie to. What I did feel bad about was the fact that he wasn't the first person I told about my pregnancy.

Much like with my last pregnancy, the nausea and vomiting began to affect me around food. It confirmed my pregnancy, which was great news, but the fact that I could barely get through breakfast was not. Most days, Erika was the only reason I managed to even make it into the dining hall. I had a responsibility to make sure that my daughter was fed, and while that got me into the cafeteria, just the thought of eating was enough to make me start vomiting again. So I decided to tell Jerry that I was pregnant; he had been a great help last time, and I definitely needed his help again this time.

Having made up my mind to tell the chef, I decided that it was best to just do it the next time I saw him and get it over with. I wasn't particularly worried about telling him, but I was worried about how he'd react. Jerry was a very flamboyant person and he tended to get loud when he got excited. There was a chance that he'd blurt out my pregnancy to the entire cafeteria before I was able to tell him that it was still a secret.

So when I approached the window at dinner that night, I was very careful with how I worded my news. "Can I talk to you in private? I need to tell you about something, but I don't-"

There was a knowing smile on his face as he cut me off. "You've got a bun in the oven, don't you, Sweetie?"

It took a second from the euphemism to click, and once it did, I turned bright red. I looked down at Erika, worried that she had just been told something she wasn't supposed to know yet, but she remained blissfully unaware of the true meaning of the phrase. I turned back to Jerry, trying to decide what to say to him, but in my panic, no words came out. I was so unprepared for him to already know that I was pregnant that it caught me completely off guard.

Jerry just laughed at my reaction, continuing to put together for himself what was going on. "So it's still pretty new. How long have you known?"

I don't know how, but I managed to make my tongue work enough to answer the question. "For certain? About three days."

He smiled and reached across the counter to tousle my hair. "Don't worry about a thing, Sweetie. I've got it all taken care of. Just remember to take care of yourself and drink plenty of water, and I'll handle the rest."

His easygoing nature made me smile. "Thank you."

.x.x.

I used to enjoy going on longer missions, but that had changed when Allen got pregnant. I could no longer stand to be away from headquarters for any length of time, and any mission that lasted more than three days was especially rough. Long missions kept me away from my Moyashi and our daughter, and that was something that was completely unacceptable.

But when Eri was two, Allen and I hit a rough patch in our relationship. We were having a horrible time getting along, and we were on the verge of breaking up and going back to hating each other. It wasn't what either of us wanted, but it was what was happening. It was by complete chance that I got stuck in the middle of a freak July snowstorm on my next mission and was gone for a week longer than planned. Our relationship was fine again when I got back, and it wasn't too hard to figure out that what we had really needed was some time away from each other. We had simply been seeing too much of each other and needed more alone time. So ever since then, I made sure to take the occasional longer mission. I still hated being away from my family, but I was doing it for the health of our relationship, and that was a good thing.

On the other hand, accepting a long mission while I was in the middle of trying to get Allen pregnant felt like torture.

I planned to pounce on the Moyashi the moment I got back, so it just figured that he wasn't alone when that finally happened. At least Erika was used to seeing us kiss, and I wouldn't scar her by greeting him that way. The kiss got a little more heated than I meant it to, but that was nothing new. I pulled Allen as close to me as our clothes would allow and practically ravished his mouth.

I broke away when I felt a sharp tugging on my pant leg. Looking down, I found Eri scowling fiercely at me. The little neko was somehow both adorable and terrifying like that and I couldn't figure out how to respond to her.

When she noticed that she had succeeded at getting my attention, Eri huffed and crossed her little arms over her chest. "Daddy! You have to be careful with Mommy. He's sick."

I knew better than to laugh at her overprotective side, so I let go of Allen in favor of picking up my daughter. I kissed her forehead and held her close, all while looking the Moyashi over with a critical eye. "Oh? Mommy's sick?"

Erika threw her arms around my neck and nestled closer to me as she nodded. "Mmhm. He's been throwing up."

I froze at that. The Moyashi suffering from vomiting could mean many different things, but it could also mean that he was pregnant, and I desperately wished that that were the case. "Really?"

Allen smiled sweetly as he took Erika from me. His face was the picture of innocence, but I could still see the knowing smirk behind it. "The past couple mornings. And sometimes when I eat."

I felt my jaw drop at the confirmation of my hopes. Allen actually was pregnant. I was almost too happy to react. "You mean you're-"

The Moyashi cut me off before I could finish the thought, turning his attention on our daughter as he set her down on her own two feet. "Eri, why don't you go find Aunt Camilla and ask her to braid your hair?"

"Ok!" The little neko immediately toddled off, smiling brightly at being allowed to roam headquarters unsupervised. It wasn't something we let her do very often, preferring to keep her where we could see her, but we did trust her to do what she was told without getting distracted - she was definitely _my_ child in that respect.

I had Allen wrapped in my arms the second she was gone. I was much too happy to wonder why he had just sent our daughter away. "You're pregnant."

His grin practically split his face. "I am."

It was in that moment that I finally understood why he had sent Erika off. "Eri doesn't know?"

He shook his head before leaning against my shoulder. "I've thought about telling her, but it was just too hard. Plus I didn't want her accidentally telling anyone before we were ready."

I released him in favor of grabbing his wrist and tugging him towards the door. I was so excited that it was threatening to bubble out and that was quite a new feeling for me. "Then let's go tell everyone."

But Allen didn't budge. "No."

I could only blink at him in confusion. "'No'?"

He smiled gently as he pulled my hand from his wrist. I half-expected him to pull away, but he stepped closer so that we were embracing once more. "At least, not yet anyway. We really should talk to Marie and Miranda first."

I couldn't resist rolling my eyes at that. Of all the reasons he could be delaying our announcement, it had to be because he was worrying about hurting someone's feelings. "Right. You want to make sure that we're not going to offend them by announcing our news."

Even though I couldn't see his face, I could still tell that Allen was pouting. "You say that like it's a bad thing. Is it really so wrong to be thinking about their feelings?"

I almost argued with him, but that was when I realized that being pregnant meant that his emotions could flip in the blink of an eye and baiting him was not something I wanted to do. It was far safer to concede, no matter how much I wanted to get my way. This was not an issue worth pressing. "I guess not, but I'm just so excited that you're pregnant again. I want to tell everyone."

Allen snickered. "So settle for telling your brother. And then we can figure out how to tell Eri that she's going to be an older sister, and after we've told her and made sure that she's ok with it, _then_ we can talk about telling everyone else, ok?"

The well-reasoned logic made me suspicious of him. That argument was too thought out to be spontaneous. "Just how long have you known about this?"

The question was rewarded with a tug on my hair, telling me that Allen was annoyed, but he wasn't so annoyed as to not answer the question. "Relax, Yuu. I told you the first chance I got."

I didn't believe him, but he clearly knew that, as he continued to talk. "The morning sickness started the day _after_ you left. So I've known for about a week, but I haven't been down to the infirmary yet, so technically nothing is confirmed and I'm just operating on suspicions."

"Idiot." I flicked his ear before sighing and running my hand through his hair. "You really should go have an exam."

Allen shuddered in my arms. "Don't wanna. They're going to poke me with needles."

The whine made me laugh. The Moyashi was a grown man with a child, yet he was acting like a little kid himself. But I knew how to deal with him when he was being a brat. "Fine. Then how about this: if you go have an exam, I'll agree to not tell anyone about your pregnancy until you're ready."

"You're stooping to bribery? Really?"

I rolled my eyes and flicked his ear, annoyed at how surprised he sounded; he was well aware that I was willing to use blackmail and bribery to manipulate him into doing things like this. "Do we have a deal or not, Moyashi?"

The Moyashi frowned but otherwise didn't respond to the question. "We don't have to go right now, do we?"

When I didn't dignify that moronic question with a response, Allen changed tactics. He wrapped his arms around my waist and nuzzled his face into my neck. "Couldn't we go do something else? We really should celebrate my pregnancy, right?"

In case I didn't get what he meant by that, Allen began rubbing his tail along my thigh, but it was all too obvious that he was trying to distract me with sex. And while I may have wanted sex, I was much more focused on getting Allen to go have an exam; after what he'd said earlier, I needed medical confirmation that he was pregnant. "Moyashi. Infirmary. Now."

Allen grumbled under his breath as he pulled away from me and headed towards the door. "Fine. Fine. I'll go. But you better not be using that bribery thing on our daughter."

"I wouldn't have to." I couldn't resist making a jab at him as I followed him out into the hall. "Eri may be a stubborn little kitten, but unlike you, she knows to do what she's told."

The Moyashi grumbled some more at that and shot another insult my way. We bickered all the way down to the infirmary, earning a few dirty looks from people who just didn't understand that that was how we communicated and we didn't mean anything by the insults.

Allen grew quiet when we reached the infirmary, but he perked right back up when he saw that the nurse on duty was the one who had delivered our baby; they had some sort of strange bond after that whole ordeal. I had to hold him down so that she could draw his blood - apparently the Moyashi really did have a problem with needles - but otherwise the exam was uneventful. Waiting for the results of the blood test was agonizing, but it was worth it when the results came back positive. Allen and I really were having another baby.


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: Well, after sitting half-finished on my computer for six months, I finally got the inspiration to write the rest of this chapter. I'm working on the next one, but who knows how long it'll take me to finish it; after all, I've got seven other ongoing fanfiction stories, two novels in the editing process, a one-act play that I've been commissioned to write, _and _I'm working two part-time jobs. Life is chaos right now. Basically, if I'm not at work, I'm asleep. I love this story, but it's not very high on my priority list. Sorry. Anyway, on to the chapter!

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

I don't know why I had agreed to do this. Yuu was the one who wanted everyone else to know that I was pregnant, so why on earth was I telling Miranda the news _all by myself?_ He should at least have to be here with me while I attempted to do this. All I could gather from asking him was that it was some form of payback for last time, because he was apparently still upset that I had announced my last pregnancy when he wasn't around. I had no clue why he was upset, as that "announcement" was definitely a mood swing induced accident, but at the time, this seemed easier than continuing to argue with him. Of course, now that I was actually sitting with Miranda, I felt like going back and fighting with my husband some more rather than having this conversation with her.

Miranda was due in a little over a month, and between her anxiety and her mood swings, there was no telling how she was going to take what I was about to tell her, which was exactly why she had to hear this in private and directly from me before anyone else knew. She was either going to be happy for me or upset that I was stealing her spotlight, but if she heard about this through gossip, she would only be upset and angry. However, knowing that telling her was the right thing to do didn't make it any easier to do.

Unsure of how to start, but knowing that I had to, I decided to start a conversation first. Maybe it would be easier to tell her once we started chatting about other things. "How are you doing, Miranda?"

Rather predictably, Miranda immediately started complaining about her pregnancy symptoms, and while I was slightly annoyed at being constantly complained to, I had been around her enough to know that what she wanted was sympathy and understanding from the one person she was close to who had had a baby. For some reason, I was the standard by which she measured herself as a mother, and she often sought my approval when her anxiety got the better of her. I had no clue why, as my own insecurities said that I was only a mediocre mother at best, yet I couldn't help being flattered by her faith in me.

I nodded along and made occasional sympathetic noises, but I was too worried about what I needed to tell her to really be listening to what she was saying. But sympathy was what she needed from me, so she probably didn't even notice that I was only half-listening to her vent about how hard it was to move around while being so far along in her pregnancy. But I immediately snapped to attention when she asked me a question. Miranda's questions needed to be treated seriously, no matter how ridiculous they ended up being. "Can I ask you a question, Allen?"

I laughed but resisted pointing out that she had already asked a question; Miranda was not the right person to joke around with like that. "What is it?"

She frowned and rubbed nervously at the side of her belly. From my past experiences with her, I expected whatever was causing her anxiety to be ridiculous, but this turned out to be a real question. "Would you ever do it again?"

I blinked, not quite understanding what she was getting at, but she immediately clarified. "Would you put your body through all the morning sickness and aches and pains again to have another baby?"

I couldn't believe how incredibly lucky I had just gotten. Miranda had just given me the perfect opening for delivering my news. She actually wanted to know if I was ever going to have another child, which made this the perfect moment to tell her that I was pregnant, but I was almost too scared to take advantage of that. I smiled nervously and took her hand - the one that was anxiously rubbing her belly - and placed it gently on my still flat abdomen; though I regretted that choice the moment her fingers made contact and I had to resist the rather violent urge to push her away; I had forgotten about that rather obnoxious instinct. "I already am."

She nodded, but I could tell that she didn't really understand what I meant. Right as I opened my mouth to say more, Miranda's face lit up with understanding. "You're pregnant?!"

I couldn't read the emotion behind the question, so I was incredibly nervous about answering it. "I'm only a couple weeks in. I can't hear its heartbeat yet, but the infirmary confirmed it yesterday, so it's definitely happening."

Her arms were suddenly thrown around my neck and she was practically in my lap from the force she put into the hug. She was saying something, but in typical Miranda fashion, I couldn't understand a word because she was crying so hard. It took a moment, but I eventually deciphered her babbling, and I was surprised to find that her tears were tears of relief. She was so self-conscious of herself as a mother that she was worried that she had scared the rest of us out of ever having children. As strange as it sounded, my pregnancy was actually reassuring to her.

When I got her calmed down enough to finally get a word in, I was reaching my limit of having someone's hand on my stomach and feeling like I was going to lash out any second, so I moved her fingers to my ear and let her soothe her anxiety that way. "To actually answer your question, I loved being pregnant and feeling my child growing inside me. Yes, there were lots of bad things about it too, but Erika was worth every single one of them, and this new baby will be too. And so will your son. You didn't scare me off; it's actually the exact opposite. If I have been acting cold or distant towards you at all, it's because I've been dying of jealousy. It has been incredibly hard trying to help you when all your pregnancy did was remind me of how badly I wanted to get pregnant again."

Miranda laughed at that, and now that she was completely relaxed and back to her usual self, we were able to talk like adults. "We're not going to tell anyone until after we've figured out how to tell Eri, but we also want to respect your feelings. You're due soon, and we don't want to steal your thunder or anything, so we're perfectly fine waiting until after you've had the baby to announce my pregnancy. But I also know you're under a lot of stress right now, so maybe you do want us to announce it and take some of that pressure off you. And-"

My nerves made me ramble, something I had in common with Miranda, but she knew that and was quick to cut me off. "Please don't worry about me, Allen. I will be fine with whichever you choose to do."

"But-"

She cut me off with a laugh. "Allen. Just knowing that you're pregnant has made me feel so much better. You need to do what's best for you. Especially now that you've got another little baby depending on you. Worry about yourself a little more."

I couldn't help rolling my eyes at her. "Yes, mother."

The sarcastic comment was clearly the wrong choice, as Miranda immediately became more flustered than she'd been in a _long _time. She turned beet red and tried to speak, but she was stammering so hard that she didn't get more than a couple syllables out. I sighed and spoke over her babbling, hoping that what I was about to say would calm her down and not just freak her out more. "For the record, I really do mean it when I say that you're going to be a great mother. In fact, a lot of the exorcists view you as their mother figure. Most of us never knew our parents, or lost them a young age, and you've always given us the kind of unconditional love and support that we imagined a mother would give. Even now that I've found my mother, I still see you that way sometimes. You've just got to believe in yourself."

.x.x.

It was about a week after I told Miranda I was pregnant that I first heard the baby's heartbeat. I still hadn't told Eri, and if Yuu asked, I would tell him that I was waiting for him to tell Marie - who had yet to come home from his current mission - but the truth was that I was scared to tell my precious daughter that she wasn't going to be an only child anymore. Like her father, Erika was incredibly possessive of me, and I was worried that the news that she was going to have to share me with a sibling would upset her. But even that wasn't my biggest concern at the moment.

I knew without a doubt that the baby's heartbeat was the sound I was hearing, but it didn't sound right, and that put me on edge. It didn't sound like I remembered Erika's sounding, which meant that something was wrong. I 'twas on the verge of a panic attack, but that was when I realized that that logic was wrong. Just because its heartbeat didn't sound like Eri's had didn't mean that something was wrong with my baby; it just meant that my two children had _different_ heartbeats. It had also been almost five years since I had last heard Eri's heart beating inside of my womb, so it was entirely possible that I was just remembering the sound incorrectly. My unborn baby was perfectly fine.

Distracted by my thoughts, I only vaguely processed the news that Marie had returned to headquarters and would be staying until after Miranda had her baby. His return merely meant that I would no longer have an excuse for not talking to Erika, so I didn't give it much thought.

Until we bumped into each other in the hall.

It was painfully clear that he had been waiting to catch me alone, and that was strange when I knew that Kanda wasn't home and they hadn't talked yet. But the knowing smile Marie gave me contradicted all that. "It appears that congratulations are in order."

I blushed fiercely at the comment. In creating the plan to tell him about my pregnancy, I had completely forgotten that Marie was also able to hear heartbeats and would be able to tell that I was pregnant on his own. "Thanks."

Marie laughed as he wrapped me in a hug. "I'm not going to spring her on you this time, but please tell Miranda soon. I don't want to keep secrets from her, and she needs to hear this from you."

I couldn't help echoing his laughter. "Don't worry, she already knows."

My laughter cut off as a thought occurred to me. "Hey, Marie? Can I ask you a serious question? Does my baby's heartbeat sound ... weird to you?"

"A little." He shrugged before smiling reassuringly at me. "It's definitely different from my son's, but that's probably just because your baby is a neko, and your heartbeats are different from ours. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

.x.x.

Having Marie assure me that my baby was fine helped a lot, but I couldn't push away the nagging feeling that something was wrong with my unborn child. Though that feeling went away really quickly when Kanda pointed out that the only way to know for sure if something was wrong was to have an exam; I was in no hurry to have a bunch of doctors poke and prod at me, especially over something that was probably just me irrationally worrying. Besides, talking over my worries with my husband of five years as we laid together in our bed was infinitely more soothing.

Our alone time was interrupted after only a few minutes by a squirmy little girl climbing onto the bed with us. Eri was supposed to be asleep, but our little kitten loved to cuddle and didn't like sleeping in her own bed, so it was more irritating than worrying that she had suddenly joined us; it was why we always made certain that she was actually asleep before we had sex.

Normally, we'd argue with her for a few minutes before giving in and letting her lay with us until she fell asleep, but tonight, she did something different. Instead of worming her way between us, so that we were embracing her instead of each other, Erika stopped in the middle of the bed, settled down against my legs, and just laid there with her head against my stomach. She didn't whine or complain about having to be in bed alone, she just lay there, purring contentedly. It was very odd behavior for her. Especially with the way her ear was pressed against my body. It was almost like she was listening intently to something.

I glanced at Yuu and he looked just as confused as I felt. It was somewhat reassuring that our daughter's behavior had him baffled too, but that didn't make it any less weird. "Whatcha doing, Eri?"

Erika paused her purring before looking up at me with an expression on her face that was eerily similar to the one her father always wore when he called me an idiot. "Listening to my sister."

I very nearly panicked when she said that, but in the end, I could only laugh. I was so stressed over trying to figure out how to tell Erika about my pregnancy that I had completely forgotten that she was smarter than a normal four-year-old. She could hear the baby's heartbeat, and she had put together for herself what she was hearing. I really was the idiot her expression was accusing me of being.

My laughter made Eri start pouting, and it was clear that she thought I was laughing at her. I tousled her hair and started rubbing the soft fur that covered her ear. Beside me, Kanda clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes at me as his free hand found my ear and scratched it the same way I was scratching Eri's. "Baka Moyashi."

Ignoring him, I smiled at our daughter and tried to get my laughter under control and figure out just what to say to her. But I took too long and her pout turned into a frown as tears pricked at the corner of her beautiful silver eyes. "Mommy? Did I do something bad?"

I pulled her into my arms and brushed away her tears. "Of course not, sweetheart. You just surprised me, that's all. I wasn't expecting you to figure out that I was pregnant all on your own like that."

She just continued to frown at me. "Your heart sounds like Auntie Manda's does, and Jerry says you've got a bun in the oven."

The comment made me freeze. I had been letting Jerry say whatever he wanted around Erika because I thought she didn't understand the euphemisms he used, but that apparently wasn't the case. "And you know what that means?"

Eri shrugged. "I found it in a book."

My baby was so adorable it hurt. I held her tighter and kissed her forehead. The action made her squirm but I didn't let go. "Mommy! You're squishing me!"

She wormed her way out of my hug and hid behind her father, but she was only there for a moment before Yuu moved her back in between us. She shrieked and giggled, but like me, she sobered quickly when she saw the serious look on her father's face. "How do you feel about mommy being pregnant?"

I was so scared of her answer that it felt like hours before she responded, but it was probably only a few seconds at most. Erika grinned and threw her little arms around me, snuggling into my side and unintentionally flicking my chin with her ear. "I'm happy. Everyone says mommy was gorgeous pregnant and now I get to see it too."

While I blushed and tried not to look too embarrassed, Kanda looked mortified, making it painfully obvious that he was the one who had told her that. "That's not what I meant, Eri."

I couldn't resist snorting at that. "She's _your _daughter, Bakanda. Are you really surprised that that's her top priority?"

He glowered at my comment but didn't respond, so I turned my focus back to Erika. "Eri, sweetheart, what about the baby? When I'm done being pregnant, you're going to have a younger brother or sister, and-"

Eri practically screeched with excitement as she cut me off. "Sister! I want a sister!"

Yuu laughed at her reaction. "You don't get to choose, Eri."

She pouted at that, and her disappointment was so adorable that I couldn't resist prodding her. "Oh, come on, Eri. You'd like a brother too, wouldn't you? You could boss him around like Auntie Lenalee does with Komui."

Eri just continued to pout at me. "Boys are mean. Timothy won't stop messing with my hair, and Thatcher's always yelling at me for being too loud."

I was torn between the offense I felt and liking the fact that my precious kitten didn't like the boys at the Order. "You know, Eri, mommy and daddy are boys too."

She once again gave me that look that said she thought I was stupid. "No. You're mommy and daddy."

Yuu snickered at that. "Can't argue with that logic, Moyashi."

I glared at him, but before I could say anything, Eri let out a big yawn and was instantly asleep. I gave up the argument in favor of watching my daughter sleep, but Yuu wasn't ready to let the conversation drop. He brushed a hand into my hair and started stroking my ear. "She's happy. Just like I told you she'd be. You can stop worrying now. "

"That's not gonna happen."

He just rolled his eyes at me. "Of course not."


	6. Chapter 5

Erika may have been happy that I was pregnant, but I was worried that that would change once the novelty of the discovery had worn off. So far, that didn't seem to be the case, but I wasn't even far enough along to be showing yet, so who knew how long that would last. Three weeks had passed so far, and she had remained as thrilled as she was when we first discussed it. In fact, much like her father, Eri had only gotten more protective and possessive of me as time passed. She even seemed to be understanding of the fact that my pregnancy was a secret that she wasn't allowed to talk about with other people. Sure, she had almost screwed up once and had very nearly announced my pregnancy to the whole cafeteria, but she had caught herself before she revealed anything, so I wasn't mad at her; besides, it had happened on my birthday, and I couldn't really blame her for wanting to tell my parents that I was pregnant on a day that she had been told was all about me.

Today marked the third day in a row that I had woken up without experiencing morning sickness, and while I was still vomiting at random times throughout the day, that was a huge relief. Although it did mean that I was going to start getting fat soon. Because screw whatever my husband may have said, pregnancy made me fat. While I liked the fact that Yuu remained attracted to me even when I was heavily pregnant, that didn't change the fact that I was going to put on a bunch of weight and be fat by everyone else's standards. But right now, all I could be was thankful that the worst of the vomiting was over. I was going to eat all the mitarashi dango I could before the half-Kanda in my womb decided that it didn't like sweets.

And it was with that mission in mind that I headed straight for the dining hall when Erika and I returned from our mission that night.

The cafeteria was loud and chaotic, far more than it usually was, and that was confusing, but it didn't take me long to figure out why it was so hectic. _Every_ exorcist was at headquarters. We were _all_ home.

It was weird. The last time we were all in one place like that was back when I was revealed as the host of the Fourteenth Noah. It was an eerie comparison and put me on edge, though I immediately felt stupid for ever being suspicious of the others once Neah himself arrived. My uncle made a beeline straight for my baby girl, where he immediately started an argument with Cross and Natasha over whose turn it was to fawn over Erika; Teidoll was usually part of that fight too, but he was, fortunately, distracted with Miranda's pregnancy.

And as I watched my parents and my uncle argue over my daughter, it hit me. Tomorrow was Erika's birthday. Everyone was home to celebrate with her.

I had mixed feelings about that. I loved that everyone adored my daughter, but I also hated that she was growing up so quickly. It didn't help that once she turned five, the Order would no longer consider her a baby. Starting tomorrow, Erika was officially an exorcist.

She may have been unofficially going on missions since she was just a few months old, but even though she was assigned to be my apprentice, Erika was still considered too young to be a true exorcist. That was all going to change tomorrow though, and after that, it wasn't going to be long before Central stopped accepting 'she's too young' as an excuse for why she couldn't fully use her Innocence. It was enough for now that she could use her claws, but it was time for me to actually start teaching her how to fight.

I was pulled from my thoughts by a pair of strong arms wrapping around my shoulders as Kanda hugged me from behind. He kissed the top of my head before whispering in my ear. "You ok?"

I shook my head, trying to stop the tears before they started. "Our baby's growing up too fast."

Yuu scoffed and I could hear him rolling his eyes at me as he sat down beside me. "That's what kids do. Now get ahold of yourself before your crying gives away the fact that you're pregnant."

"Heartless bastard."

He just shrugged off the insult. "Che. And you're an overly sentimental bean sprout. But there's no need to be stating the obvious. So, are you going to tell me what's actually bothering you, or are you going to hold it in like you usually do?"

The question hurt more than the insult had. Yes, I had a tendency to mask my true feelings, but I _always _shared them with my husband, especially if he asked directly about them. "Eri turns five tomorrow."

Kanda looked genuinely confused. "And that's a reason to cry?"

"Probably not. But turning five means that she's officially an exorcist, and that's... she's..." I tried to hold it in, but the sob still escaped. "God I'd hoped that this wouldn't be happening."

Yuu rolled his eyes at me once again. "Baka Moyashi."

The nickname said a lot. As did the way he held me close. It meant the things it usually did: that he thought I was being stupid and overly emotional, and that he found it adorable. But more importantly, it meant that Yuu was just as worried as I was, he just wasn't going to say it out loud in a public place.

The comfort I felt from being held by my husband made the tears start falling, and that was when a different, yet equally depressing, thought occurred to me. I was pregnant. And as the accommodator of the Heart, the children I bore would not only all be nekos, they would be Innocence compatible as well. Like its older sister, the baby in my womb was going to be an exorcist someday.

Though he'd been holding me in silence so far, Kanda suddenly let out an irritated sigh. "Now what's wrong?"

I almost froze at the question. It was strange how well my husband knew me. I don't know what subtle thing it was that I had done, but Yuu had picked up on it and figured out that it was something new that was making me cry. I sniffled and tried to talk through my tears. It came out quiet and muffled, but that was a good thing given that we were in the middle of the crowded dining hall. "Our next baby's going to be an exorcist too."

The annoyed expression on his face faltered ever so slightly, but then he went right back to being his usual stoic self. He sighed and began rubbing my ear. "You don't know that for sure. It's too early still. Besides, they've never actually proven that you have the Heart or that our children will always be accommodators; you're worrying about nothing."

I glared at him through my tears, but he didn't falter. He did, however, actually say something out loud that he usually would have kept to himself. Granted, he was whispering in my ear, but he still said it. "I'm worried about it too. Things may be better now that the Earl is gone, but we are still at war. I don't want our children to be exorcists any more than you do. However, this is a conversation we've had several times, and I know that talking about it won't make you feel better, so just go back to crying, ok Moyashi?"

I wanted to stop crying out of spite from being ordered around by my husband, but the tears continued to fall, and I ended up clinging to him instead. He didn't complain, and I knew that he wasn't going to let go of me until I had cried myself out.

It had never been unusual for me to cry in public, and it had become pretty common for Kanda to actually comfort me - in public - when it happened, so it wasn't strange that the others weren't trying to butt in. In fact, they were all still scared of my husband, so it was a pretty safe bet that they were intentionally giving us as much privacy as they could in order to avoid upsetting him. There was, however, one occupant of the cafeteria who that didn't apply to, and it wasn't long at all before Erika noticed that I was crying and escaped from her grandparents.

I was first aware of my daughter when the little neko climbed onto the bench beside me, standing on it in order to reach my shoulders better, and wrapped her arms around me. I looked to her, expecting to see her looking worried or trying to comfort me, but instead, she was glaring angrily at her father. "Daddy. Did you make Mommy cry?"

Yuu scoffed and tousled her hair, but I swear I saw a flash of fear in his eyes. It almost made me laugh that he was scared of our daughter. "Of course not. Mommy made himself cry. He's sad that your birthday is tomorrow."

The confused frown on Eri's face was adorable. "But I get my exorcist jacket tomorrow."

I blinked at her in surprise, my tears instantly halting. The excitement in her voice was undeniable and that confused me greatly. "You _want_ to be an exorcist?"

Kanda snorted and spoke for her. "Of course she does. She idolizes you. And being an exorcist makes her more like you, right Eri?"

"Yep!"

.x.x.

I really wished that Erika weren't so damn excited about officially becoming an exorcist. It was bad enough that she was already apprenticed and learning how to fight, and if she weren't so excited then maybe I could have fought against it. But this was what she wanted, so my hands were tied. I was a complete pushover when it came to my baby girl. Like her mother, that little neko had learned how to use her tears to manipulate me, and while I could usually stand my ground on the little things, things like this were much harder to endure. Preventing her from getting her jacket was only going to upset her, and I couldn't be the one to make her cry.

But on the other hand, the fact that she wanted this did make it a whole lot easier to accept that there _wasn't _anything I could do about it. I was completely powerless to stop Central from naming my baby an exorcist. I wanted to, but I couldn't. It was agonizing that I couldn't protect her from this, and the only saving grace was that Eri was every bit as naïvely optimistic as her mother. So long as this was what she wanted, I could accept the fact that it was inevitable.

And then the brat Moyashi had to go and point out that we were going to have to go through this _again_ in another five years. It had been a long time since I had last wanted to cave his face in that badly. And if he weren't sobbing hysterically, I might have actually done it. Not that that would have helped anything. It certainly wouldn't have changed the fact that Allen was, in all likelihood, carrying an Innocence compatible child. Part of me was thankful that this issue hadn't come up until _after _the Moyashi was already pregnant, but on the other hand, with Allen being pregnant and hormonal, this had the potential to become a huge problem. He may have dropped it for now, but he was probably going to bring it up again later.

Eri was surprisingly easy to put to bed that night. She didn't once complain about her bedtime or ask to sleep in our bed. She climbed straight into her own bed the moment her teeth were brushed. It was extremely odd behavior for the clingy little girl. Though maybe it wasn't that weird - she was probably exhausted from being the center of attention all evening. She was out before we finished her bedtime story, and Allen fell asleep before I was done getting ready for bed.

Of course, an early night meant an early morning, and it was still dark outside when Eri came barreling into our room, screeching with excitement. I was a morning person and was usually up early for meditation and training, but this was too early for me. And if it was too early for me, it was definitely too early for the Moyashi. Allen swore under his breath and glared death at the little neko trying to climb on him. "Go back to bed, Erika. _Now_."

The anger in his words made her tear up, but she stubbornly stayed in place. "But it's my birthday."

Allen just continued to glare at her - he was clearly quite pissed over being woken up so early - so I intervened before one of them could say something they'd regret. I pulled Eri off of him and settled her in the space between us. "Ok, Eri. If you can be quiet, you can stay here until it's time to get up. But if you wake Mommy again, he might just have to take away your birthday presents. Understand?"

Eri immediately clasped her hands over her mouth and nodded furiously. Allen smiled ever so slightly at her antics but the grumpy scowl never left his face. "Good. Now go back to sleep."

The peace and quiet that followed lasted for about ten minutes. Allen got up to pee, and Eri took that to mean that she could be up too, so she started bouncing on the bed. Her energy was both amusing and annoying, but the lack of sleep made the annoyance win. "It's still nighttime, Sprout. You better be asleep before Mommy gets back or you're gonna make him mad."

I felt bad for making Allen the bad guy, but with the way Eri adored him, there weren't going to be any long term consequences for that. Besides, given how hormonal pregnancy made him, his temper was actually going to be worse than mine for the next few months, and the sooner Eri learned that, the smoother things would go.

The warning bought us another hour of quiet, and I actually managed to nod off. But when I heard Allen throw up, any attempt at sleeping further was futile. Eri beat me to the bathroom, but Allen had locked the door behind him and we couldn't get in. I hated his new need for privacy, but I understood that he did it because he didn't like throwing up in front of our daughter. However, Eri couldn't wrap her head around the idea that he was trying to protect her by not letting her comfort him, and being locked out usually made her cry. Today was no exception, so the moment she started sniffling, I picked her up and set about distracting her.

I took her to get dressed, which immediately cheered her up, and it was no surprise to me that she refused to wear the frilly dress that her grandmother had bought for the occasion. Erika hated wearing skirts for many reasons, but the biggest one was that she didn't like the way they fit around her tail. We had all thought that she would be willing to make an exception for such an important day, but we were apparently wrong about that. Maybe the Moyashi would be able to convince her to wear it to dinner. I certainly wasn't going to fight with her over it now; I was much too tired and just wanted to get her dressed. Though I have no doubt that she would have been absolutely adorable in that dress. _Dear god, I'm turning into Komui. _

Eri actually let me brush her hair, which was something that she usually only let her mother do, but that was easily explained by her impatience to get downstairs and start her birthday. I attempted to braid her hair the way she liked it, but I got distracted by watching her actually sit still and the feeling of her beautiful hair between my fingers, and I failed even more miserably than I would have if I'd been paying proper attention to the task at hand; I just didn't have much practice doing her hair, though that was probably going to change once the baby came. Fortunately, the Moyashi had recovered from his morning sickness by then, and he was able to take over and fix the braids before Eri noticed just how badly I had messed them up.

Allen glared at me the entire time he fixed our daughter's hair, which was expected, as he even felt the need to protect her from me. When he was done, Eri immediately bolted for the door, and I had to run after her. She simultaneously screamed and giggled as I scooped her up in my arms and plopped her down on her bed. "Come on, Sprout. I know you're excited, but you've gotta wait till Mommy and Daddy are dressed before we can go downstairs."


End file.
